Rules & FAQ 2011

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

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Overview | Schedule | For Artists | For Authors | For Betas | Submission Guidelines | Claiming Process | Crossovers and Misc. | Questions and Comments

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Overview:

This is a reverse of the usual Big Bang challenge. Each artist wishing to participate creates one piece of art that will be posted anonymously to be claimed by an author.

Authors are then expected to write a short fic (minimum of 3,000 words) based on the art they chose.

We expect authors and artists to leave their spn_reversebang stories and artwork accessible and unlocked for at least nine months after posting. We also strongly encourage that if you plan to delete or lock your journal after that point you consider archiving your work at an additional site such as AO3 or imugr.

You must have a Livejournal account to participate in this challenge.

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Schedule:

Artist and Author sign-ups open Monday, August 1. Artists should submit a completed draft by Monday, September 19. (Early Bird Art will be due Friday, September 2. For more information, see below). This may feature any pairing (or no pairing) so long as it includes at least one Supernatural character or actor/actress who has appeared on the show. The art will be posted anonymously, at which point authors can claim a piece. Authors will write a short fic (minimum of 3,000 words) based on the art they chose.

Artist and author matches will be revealed on Tuesday, October 4, and the posting schedule will be revealed on Friday, October 21.

Posting of the final products will be on a staggered schedule, and will begin on Monday, November 7.

Important Dates:

Monday, August 1: Sign-Ups Open
Friday, August 26: Artist Sign-Ups Close

Friday, September 2: Early Bird Art Submissions Due/First Artist Check-in
Monday, September 19: Art Submissions Due

Thursday, September 29: Claims Open

Tuesday, October 4: The Big Reveal
Friday, October 21: Posting Schedule Announced

Tuesday, October 18: Second Artist Check-In/First Writer Check-in
Tuesday, November 1: Writer Rough Drafts Due

Monday, November 7: Posting Begins

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Rules for Artists:

• You should create one new piece of art: a drawing, painting, digital manip, or fanvid. Art must be at least 400 by 600 pixels in size, videos must be at least 30 seconds in length. You must submit this piece by Monday, September 19, (or Friday, September 2 for Early Bird Art) and it should be a completed draft. (You may continue making changes after this date, but a writer should be able to work with the prompt as-is, if necessary).


• Early Bird Exception: Artists who wish to submit two prompts must complete and submit one prompt by Friday, September 2. Otherwise, only one prompt will be allowed per artist.


• You may not submit art for this challenge that has already been posted elsewhere.


• This challenge is open to all pairings and genres, so long as it includes at least one character or actor from Supernatural. Artists may choose to specify what pairings (if any) they envision in the story, as well as submit a short text description of their piece (optional).


• We have a post for Art Beta volunteers for artists to contact directly, but having your artwork looked over by a Beta is not required.


• Please sign up to participate as an artist here.

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Rules for the Authors:

• Authors must write a fic with a minimum of 3,000 words, based on the art you choose in the Art Claims post. Claims will be first come, first serve. Your fic must be related to the art for which it is written, and it cannot have been already posted elsewhere.


• Rough drafts meeting the minimum required word count will be due Tuesday, November 1.


• There will be required check-ins, draft deadlines, and a certain level of communication with your artist is expected. If you do not meet your deadlines or fail to communicate with your artist, you may receive one or more warnings, after which a pinch-hitter will be assigned.


• The fics must be beta read, and we have a post for Fic Beta volunteers available for authors to contact directly. There is also a non-affiliated LJ community at spn_betas where you can seek a beta reader.


• Please sign up to participate as an author here.

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Betas:

Volunteers to be Fic and Art Betas may sign up here.

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Art Submission Guidelines:

Art submissions should be sent to the community mod email account by Monday, September 19, (or Friday, September 2 for Early Bird Art) and it should be a completed draft. Artists may submit only two pieces of art for claiming in this challenge if they make the Early Bird deadline with one of them. Otherwise, only one piece of art will be allowed per artist. There is no maximum size or dimensions for art, though each art prompt must be at least 400 by 600 pixels in size. If it is a vid it must be at least 30 seconds in length. Art submissions should be completed drafts. This challenge is open to all pairings and genres, so long as it includes at least one character or actor from Supernatural. Artists may choose to specify what pairings (if any) they would prefer to accompany their story, as well as clarify whether the art is SPN or RPS. More details on the art submission process will be posted to the community, so please be sure to join and watch the community for updates.

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The Claims Process:

Art claims will officially begin on Thursday, September 29, though the post will be up a couple of days beforehand so that writers may take a look at all the art before actual claiming starts. The art posts will contain thumbnail previews of all the art (that link to the full size version of the art) accompanied by an optional text description of the subject. All art will be posted anonymously, and claims will be first come, first serve.

The Art Post(s) will be members-locked, so please be sure to join and watch the community in order to participate.

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What about crossovers?

We strongly discourage them, but they will be allowed so long as the focus of the prompt remains on the SPN characters or actors. Additionally, it will be the artist's responsibility to provide explanations of, or information about, characters from other fandoms included in the artwork to the author.

Everyone who wishes to participate should join and watch the community, to make sure they do not miss important deadlines or updates to the challenge.

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Contact:

If you have any questions, please comment here, send an email to spnreversemod@gmail.com or send a PM to spnreversemod. The mods for this round are inalasahl, retrophysics, jimmyssock and tringic. We ask that you not contact them directly with questions.

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Comments

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

People will not be allowed to sign up as both an artist and an author. However, we will allow artists to sign up as writing pinch-hitters (when the pinch-hitting sign-up opens after claims). If you'd like to do both, your best bet then is to sign up as an artist now and hope to get a pinch hit later.

[expectative.livejournal.com]

Last year, we could provide more than one piece of art for one prompt. Is it still possible this year?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

Like last year we ask that people send in their submission in a single file - so if you want you can submit a piece with multiple panels, like a comic book page, as long as it's one page/file.

[chaosraven.livejournal.com]

Can you be more clear about what a draft constitutes and how much more work we're allowed to do before the posting date? I have a suspicion that what I think a draft is and what the mods think a draft is are not the same thing.

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

We realize this is a little complicated, but we expect artists to turn in a submission that looks like a finished piece of art. You are allowed to make changes to it after consulting with your author, but what you send to us as a draft must be a piece that can stand on it's own, and that an author could work from as-is. Does that clarify things?

[wolfling]

Okay, potentially silly question here (and one which may end up being moot, but still.)

What happens if there are more authors than art being offered for claim? Will you end up not being able to participate as a writer if that occurs?

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I was fretting about this too. Personally, I'd LOVE to see more than one author tackle my offering! There's bound to be a writer/artist imbalance and though I hope to take advantage of the Early Bird Special, I suspect there will still be a wealth of authors. A glorious wealth!

[lightthesparks.livejournal.com]

I have a question in regards to the art content. In the rules it states that we may not submit art that has previously been posted, which I completely understand. However, are we allowed to use, say, a manip we've previously made and incorporate it into an entirely different piece of art? Specifically, I have a rather elaborate scene in mind that I would like to put together for one of my prompts, and have realized that some time ago, I've done a simple Sam manipulation that would fit perfectly into it. It would save me a lot of time if it was possible to incorporate that one. I'd be happy to provide more details if you need them to judge.

Just thought I'd ask before my prompt gets kicked off for it. :D

[jimmyssock.livejournal.com]

We've seen this, are discussing it and shall reply as soon as we have a concrete reply.

[honeylocusttree.livejournal.com]

Are there limits to the types of art allowed? For example, depictions of gore or potentially disturbing imagery?

[jimmyssock.livejournal.com]

As long as it is tagged and rated correctly anything is acceptable. Triggers would need to be noted upon submission too so we can adequately forewarn others on claims day.

[heard_the_owl]

I know that you discourage crossovers, but what about AU's? Like - the SPN characters as the characters from a popular 80's cartoon? Or something? :D

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

AUs are allowed, but be aware that prompts that require research or specialized knowledge will have a smaller pool of people who can write for them. It may behoove you to err on the more general side, eg. a prompt where Dean is blue and lives in the forest can be potentially picked up by more people than a prompt where Dean is a Smurf. Additionally, if your prompt outright requires that that the SPN characters be the characters from something like an 80s cartoon, it will be your responsibility to provide the author with explanations of or information about those characters.

[midnightheir.livejournal.com]

Vidding, how does one go about getting it checked without losing their anonymity?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

You mean with a beta or for submissions? In the first case: it's okay if your beta know which work is yours. In the second case: We recommend uploading to a file hosting service like megaupload, and sending us the link in your submission. We will then take care of uploading it to our account for viewing by potential authors.

[apieceofcake.livejournal.com]

I had one of mine claimed last year but despite assurances etc from the author she didn't post the fic, I never saw any of it and I never heard from her again. As that one piece has been posted here and in my journal I am assuming that it can't be submitted again this year?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

I will take this to the mod comm and discuss it with the others. When we have a concrete reply you shall.

-jimmy

[expectative.livejournal.com]

I have a piece of art that I already posted on my journal (it's f-locked though) and I know it's not valid as a prompt but I was wondering if I could include it in the final art masterpost?

[jimmyssock.livejournal.com]

Apologies about the delay.

We've thought about it and we feel it'd be unfair to the author to have them write for a piece that is already created. As mentioned elsewhere inclusion of art that is already complete does go against the spirit of the RBB where being anonymous in the initial stages is part of the appeal.

GIFS

[midnightheir.livejournal.com]

On tumblr there are posts that are quite large with several gifs incorporated into them usually telling a story or doing a snap shot sequence. Are these allowed?

Re: GIFS

[jimmyssock.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the wait.

"A gif is still work. As long as it's not just a clip from the show (which would amount to sending us a screencap) and it's actually telling a story, then it's good."

[lemanya.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to clarify what time and timezone the claiming opens in? While I definitely appreciate the art being on view before claiming begins (so thank you!) it's not going to do me any good if I'm too late because I misjudged timezone conversions. Thanks!

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

We haven't decided it yet and won't until closer to the day. At the latest, it will be announced when the art is put on view.

[belladonnanoir.livejournal.com]

This may seem like a daft question but I wanted to ask. The art is being posted anonymously how do writers claim it, do they comment on the piece of art they want to do or do they email the mods with what they want. This is the first time I have participated in this so not entirely sure how it all works!!

[jimmyssock.livejournal.com]

The Art post will go up and each piece of art will be subscribed a number, the title if an artist gives it one and its description if there is one to give.

On claims day a seperate post is put up and the author posts in with his/her top three choices using the numbers to identify which one they want.

[79chevyimpala.livejournal.com]

I have ideas for two pieces of art, and I understand in order to have both considered for fic I have to have one done by September 1st. My question is if I get 1 done by 9/1 but I dont get the other one done by 9/19 am I disqualified completely??

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

Nope. If you turn in one before Sept. 2, you do not have to turn in a second one later. Doing two is optional. You're welcome to just submit one.

[imogen-lily.livejournal.com]

I had a question, I've never signed up for this before but I wanted to ask. After we've posted our draft art and been claimed, are we allowed to communicate and/or collaborate with our writer at all? I mean if we are very squeamishness about certain things we don't want included - or we're a very strong top/bottom girl in a paring or had a sort of 'plan/idea about the story based on our art. Are we allowed to discuss any of that or is it pot luck what our writer does?

I hope that makes sense!

[jimmyssock.livejournal.com]

The RBB runs in the same way as an other Big-Bang challenge. In an ideal world every writer and artist would communicate and collaborate to the nth degree and produce a stellar piece of work. The amount of contact and collaboration a person has with their respective author/artist is entirely up to the individuals taking part.

If you're author/artist does NOT contact you in any capacity after claims then the mods can offer support and assistance, they cannot and will not dictate the precise terms of the collaboration itself since that tends to vary on a pairing by pairing basis and what 'works' for one pairing may not be optimal conditions for another.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Hi! Would a genderswap AU be acceptable? It would be Sam and Dean, but as women, is that something that still fits the rules of the AU allowance?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

Genderswap is an acceptable AU.

[cherry916.livejournal.com]

Is there a specific time when the claims will open on Sept. 29th? I just wanted to know so I can be able to be online at that time

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

The exact time that claims will open will be announced when the art goes up for previewing, but we estimate it'll be early morning in GMT on the 29th.

[jesseofthenorth.livejournal.com]

Hey
I have a question. Now that we have all made our claims is it ok to post the artwork we claimed as writers on to our LJ's so we can share our enthusiasm/sqee? Or do we have to keep it under wraps?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

Hi!
We'd like you to wait until your artist has contacted you if you want to post the actual art, because it's their artwork, and thus their decision where it get posted. If you just want to tell your flist about this awesome thing you claimed (without posting the actual art) then of course that's ok. We're all very excited too, so we can understand. ;)

[heard_the_owl]

Hi there! I was just wondering what '2nd artist check-in' will be. Will you want to see updated/ new art or us it just gonna be a 'how're ya doing' kinda thing?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

It's just going to be a "how ya doing" kinda thing.

[demonic-fish.livejournal.com]

Hey there! Me and my partner just posted (thank you so much for brining us together and for organizing this thing!) and I was wondering what is the generally acceptable time before I can crosspost the fic to another community?

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

We're fine with people crossposting now, but we ask them to link to their masterposts at spn_reversebang rather than directly to their journals until the whole challenge finishes posting.

[spnreversemod.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I understand the question. But if you're saying you are ready to post, just sit tight until your scheduled posting date. Only the writers had to turn in a rough draft today.

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Over-eager artist is over-eager! (Sorry if I'm driving you apeshit...)

I've had several fellow artists ask me about the ReverseBang this year and I was wondering (hoping praying) you were going to host it again. It's BY FAR my favorite event and the one time the art gets to be the star. I'll help if you need it! Just let me know...